The Rolls Royce Merlin: Powering History's Most Famous Fighters 

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You could have included the fact that the Rolls Royce Meteor engine, used in most British tanks in world war two and in the post war years, was a RR Merlin adapted for ground use.

And two Merlins powered the versatile de Havilland Mosquito - hated by the Luftwaffe as it was so successful.

Great engine used by so many legendary planes. I will always admire De Havilland Mosquito, wooden plane with two Merlins protected by speed.

And after the war Merlins were tuned to around 3800HP for Air racing, that takes a slick P51 to 540mph

When the P-51 first came out it was generally considered a mediocre aircraft. It wasn't until the Merlin engine was installed in it that it came out as one of the finest piston-engined aircraft of WW2. Eventually the USA did produce Packard designs that were the equal of the Merlin but it took until almost the end of the war to happen. The USA did produce the best radial engines of the war though, eventually surpassing 3000 HP with the P&W compound radials.

When I work at a Boeing plant building the apache. The nearby airfield had a wwii aircraft museum. And the p-51 with it merlin had a unique sound that set it apart and was only eclipsed by the b-17 four engines.

The Merlin was detuned by removing the supercharging. The engine was then made under licence by Rover, named the Meteor, with it being used in tanks like the Cromwell, Comet and Centurion. It was the best tank engine of WW2. The engine had to be detuned as the Cromwell went too fast reaching over 50mph. One jumped a canal in Holland.

The Merlin is probably the best (and most iconic) aircraft engine of all time, the sound of it is absolutely magical to me.🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌

An excellent read about the Lancs during WWII is "Lancaster Target" by Jack Currie. He goes to great lengths about harmonizing the Merlins and how reassuring their purring sound was to him and his crew.

Would have loved to hear about their testing process. They would run the Merlin flat out until it broke, then open it up and inspect what broke. They they would make an improvement to make it stronger and run the test all over again.

Simon, you ought to have mentioned the Schneider Trophy Races, where the RR engine and the airframe of R.J.Mitchell (Supermarine) wed to beat everyone. It was almost a Spitfire prototype.

I must say this was the most comprhensive coverage of the Merlin I have seen and you actually recognized PACKARD as one of the Major suppliers of merlin and the Merlin Mustang and its role in the war, Most just gloss over the Packard roll and also the Mustang but you nailed it. Good show !! !

Nothing like the sound of a Merlin. Was doing parts deliveries when I was in the military to one of the maintenance squadrons at my base, got out of my truck, and heard that roar as a Mustang was taking off.

Another excellent episode. Thankyou.

The Merlin V-12, the M-4 Sherman, the Spitfire, and the M-1 Garand are hands down THE best four things used by the allies during WW2, and what helped win the war probably more than anything else.

The Eagle was also used on the Handley-Page O/400 which was earlier than the Vimy. The V-1650 designation is a reference to it's cubic capacity of 1650 cu in

So glad this one finally came up. All the aircraft that you have done that sported this incredible engine, and now the beast itself. Thanks Megaprojects!

Excellent video. thank you!

I never realized the Lancaster used Merlins... and I've been on an airstrip when a Lancaster came screaming by below treetop level, not 50 meters away. (Private airstrip holding an airshow, after the guests had gone home, so no FAA violations. But cool as Hell.)

In my opinion the greatest engine ever produced. Certainly one of the best sounding.

What an absolute beast of an engine, makes a noise that shakes you to your core too

And if you make a Merlin without a super charger you get a Meteor, which was used in the Centurion tank. The last one of which was decommissioned by the British Army after serving in Desert storm, sometime in the early '90's, so in one form or another the Merlin /Meteor served the UK for over half a century!

Great topic Simon

I love the light color changes in the background. I've seen red, purple, blue, and white. I like the blue the best.

The Merlin is truly an impressive piece of engineering. Would be interesting to see a similar video on the Allison v12, and even the Ford GAA v8, which started out life as a v12 aero engine, but due to various circumstances became a v8 used in tanks.

can you do some mega construction vehicles/equipment?! there are some behemoth earth movers out there i would love to see explained.

No mention of the Supermarine S6B Schieder cup racers which used a RR engine..

Hey there Simon. I’ve stumbled onto the megaprojects RU-vid channel this week while looking up stuff about the K-129. I’m now Hooked onto watching your videos. Just wondering if you can a video on the F-111. I live in Australia so there a love of the aircraft.

I visited the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander Newfoundland this summer where they have a Buick produced Merlin on display. It's as close as I ever expect to get to internal combustion royalty, I was in awe, completely lost for words.

Hello simon, how are you? Can you please do a video about the aurora spy plane?

Do an episode on the Triple E! Built by Maersk, world's largest container ship, ground breaking feats of engineering and planning! The ship is so large, it can't pass through the Panama canal!

Great video other than at 0.54 seconds in the labelled ‘spitfire’ flying in from the right is in fact a hurricane! Doh…!

The P51 Mustang was pretty mediocre until they put the Rolls Royce engine in it. The big advantage that this engine had was the multi stage supercharger. There were other engines that were comparable at low altitude, but they didn't have that highly advanced supercharger and it was a game changer. At high altitude the air pressure is lower and the oxygen level is lower. A supercharger or turbo charger cram Air into the induction system at high pressure. This is what we call boost. This allows it to have a high level of performance even at high altitude. The multiple stages on the supercharger allowed it to operate at an optimal boost at low altitude or high altitude. It was quite brilliant really. The fact that they pulled all this off and were getting 1800 + horsepower back in the 1940s is absolutely incredible. It was a great engine all around but it was the supercharger that really set it apart from the others. A normally aspirated engine on an airplane is a really bad idea, unless you're staying at low altitude I suppose. Even on an automobile engine adding boost to it gives you a lot more horsepower usually triple digit extra horsepower, that's how big of a deal a turbocharger or supercharger is. I have a Chevy Silverado with a 6 litre LS engine with only about 9.5:1 compression and I'm planning on adding a low boost turbocharger to give it some more pep and hopefully help with gas mileage.

Can u do one on the Swedish Bofors 40mm AA gun?

All your videos are interesting

You left out the complete Packard engine story. Do another video showing the Packard Merlin engine development and production.

DO THE VENUS PROJECT!!!

Nice can we get one on the ford gaa series

0:54 correct me if I’m wrong but I think that’s a hurricane?

I really don't mind hte sponsored product placement ad annoucements. I appreaciate you all making your money.

I think it was the Americans that made the engine better with the introduction of a different type of bearing material,

Megaprojects video: how Fact Boy took over RU-vid

Don't forget that Merlins powered PT boats (3 per boat!).

Spitfire! That was a hurricane 😄

One web serial novel series, "Whateley Academy", mentions "Liam's Folly", a stolen 1930 Phantom II rebuilt by a bootlegger to use a modified first-generation 1933 Merlin engine. Turns out, putting a large and extremely loud aero engine in a car is neither safe nor stealthy.

I thought Bristol Beaufighter had a Bristol Radial engine

Someone is shoving one of these in a panther body crown Vic. Also you should do a biographic on DeLorean

Simon when he can show the slightest hint of British pride while covering WWII. 👀

I need one for my Miata

Imagine being at pilot and getting behind a Rolls-Royce engine for the first time. That had to be quite a rush.

Nothing like lunch with #factboy. I love when his clone army and basement "employees" upload 18 videos in 3 minutes. All hail our RU-vid overlord.

Next do a video on the Pratt & Whitney R2800 double wasp

I love the sound of Rolls-Royce Merlins in the morning. Sounds like..sounds like victory.

One of the greatest piston engines ever. Yay getting closer to the video I want to see you make. Please do one on the P-51. Love what you do , much love from WV USA 🐈🐾

I'm sure the video for the spitfire at the start is a hurricane... my immersion REEeeeeee :p

Unfortunately the Spitfire shown at the beginning of this video is actually another Hawker Hurricane - I thought you ought to know....

Back in the day, boat builders used Merlin Engines in Hydroplanes for racing. I can still hear the classic sound of low RPM's and lots of pistons. There were surplus engines after the War, so smart boat builders switched to Merlin's. They dominated in Unlimited Hydroplane class for years. It wasn't until there were lots of surplus turbine engines from helicopters after Vietnam that Gas Turbine Engines would dominate.

Goering on seeing Mustang's over Berlin. "The war is lost".

The Meteor, used in a number of British tanks, is derived from the Merlin as well. It was used up to about 1960.

Another thing going on with the supercharger development was fuel improvements, mostly by US oil companies. Octane ratings for AvGas went from 87 to 115/150.

Merlins absolutely are the best, but I have to admit, the old British standard hardware makes them a pain to work on. we have the in the newly rebuilt prototype XP-82 twin mustang!

I was riding my bicycle on a undeveloped barrier island in Florida. I took a break, parked the bike, and was walking toward the shoreline when I heard a most wonderful sound. It was approaching rapidly. I sprinted toward the shoreline. I got there as a P-51 flew by about 50 ft off the water, well in excess of 300mph. Wow... I will never forget that moment, or that sound.

I admire your accurate description of how everything combined won the war. It was not just the M-1 Garand, the M4 Sherman or any one aircraft. It was the allies fighting the axis. A war of good against evil. And yes, when the British realized they could squeeze a Merlin into the P-51, the Mustang finally became a thoroughbred.

An interesting video. You should consider doing one on the other "war winning" aircraft engine. The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial powered multiple aircraft types and saw similar developmental improvements throughout the war.

There is another engine that helped win the war and perhaps had the greatest impact of any machinery. The Soviet Model V-2 engine that powered so many of their armoured vehicles. It was in their one hundred and sixty thousand or more T-34 tanks etc. Considering that the Soviets destroyed about 85-90% of Germany's armies, the V-2 probably can make the claim of winning the war -- if such a claim can be made. Growing up in England during the 1970-80s, I have seen "the Merlin won the war" claim made a lot. I never questioned it until I got to university. I do not agree now. I think it is national bias to make that claim, which is a common result of war stories focusing on your own country's efforts. The Merlin made a very significant contribution. The Curious Droid channel recently made that claim too, i.e., the English slap head bloke who wears shirts that look like pizza disasters. He tends to get a little misty eyed when talking about England. Lend Lease contributed to around 10% of Soviet war material. They produced almost everything else themselves. The most useful lend lease item appears to be varieties of 6x6 trucks, which the Soviets needed for logistics, i.e., maintaining supply lines to all those V-2 powered tanks and several million troops. I see the Americans claiming that nuking two primarily civilian cities in Japan won the war. I am not so sure. I read that Japan had already been trying to surrender multiple times before the nukes, so the costly invasion of Japan may not have been required. Therefore the claim that they had to use the nukes to prevent having to undertake that invasion seems bogus. What's more, the Soviets entered the war against Japan at this time in 1945, launching the 1.6 million strong Manchurian Operation against Japan, which was also a factor in the eventual surrender. They quickly defeated Japan's largest remaining army group and were pouring into the northern Japanese islands, Korea and China etc. The nukes were dropped, Japan surrendered, and the Soviet advance stopped (US forces quickly deployed after the surrender to cut off the Soviets in Korea etc).

I wonder how it would feel going to work at Rolls Royce and there's suddenly more guard posts and AAA Cannon positions nearby. Talk about job security.

This guy says he hopes we find this video interesting. What we found is someone who doesn’t know or care about the crap he is spewing. He is reading from an erroneous script and churning out internet garbage to make money! So sick of this and videos of people gushing over the sound of Rolls Royce Merlin engines in the P-51s. No Rolls Royce engines were used in the North American P-51 Mustang. None! The first models were powered by Allison engines - and final models (including the P-51 D) were built with Packard engines - license built versions of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine - but manufactured by the Packard Motor Car Company! In fact… in the final three years of WWII Packard Merlin engines were used in the manufacture of Spitfire, Mosquito and Lancaster fighters and bombers. Also… the Rolls Royce Merlin was not a “ twelve cylinder monster” as this idiot presenter gleefully exclaims. It was a smaller engine with a 27 liter displacement and used an old fashioned gravity type carburetor - whereas the German Daimler Benz DB-601 and 605 engines used in the Messerschmitt bf-109 had a huge 37.5 liters displacement and were fuel injected. If the people who produce this puerile content wanted to truly produce remarkable and informative videos - they could start by revealing how the smaller Rolls Royce and Packard Merlin’s were boosted to incredible power levels to compete and surpass superior German engines. *** (Hint… the Allies produced their own 130 octane aviation gasoline, while the Germans were forced to lower boost and detune their engines because they were supplied with 87 octane fuel from a refinery in Romania).

“The mechanical hardware that’s far less sexy than guns” …. Psssh! Here is an engine more powerful than some professional devoted racers today, built 80 years ago with restrictions of material, tools, computers, and knowledge…. Oh, and then it is mass produced during a war. That is sexy! Hearing the design and development details to achieve such a feat…. That can “turn one’s crank” and get one “revved up”

Whenever I hear: "Rolls Royce Merlin Engine" - I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm a Yank, by the way

Thank you for the production numbers- somehow I had got the idea Packard had finished up building better than half- the Mustang was a huge user, but many were installed on Canadian built Spitfires and other license built British air frames. Not given much coverage was Packard's through going re engineering to gain a more readily producible and maintenance friendly finished product, much of which was taken back to Crewe and incorporated in the home built RR versions. BTW, the Packard contract contained a royalty agreement which Packard readily signed of on- Allison's engineers for the V 12 they were building had the opportunity to gain access to the new two speed, two stage SC but felt the idea of royalties was outrageous. Post war experiments with Allison V12's being built for unlimited hydroplane racing showed much the same improvement in sea level hp as the Merlin gained. Most of the military surplus converted to air racers were Merlin powered and also never flew above 1500 feet, so no final info, but many strong hints. Also not mentioned was RR practice of pass/fail testing both parts and finished assemblies; the successes went on to be installed on many aircraft, while the operational failures were down rated and made engines for British tanks and motor torpedo boats- a practice Packard followed- many "not aircraft quality engines" becoming powerplants for US torpedo boats. Simon- in your list of successful aircraft using the Merlin, you didn't mention Britain's "second darling" the De Havilland Mosquito- I'm wondering why. Without a doubt the most successful medium bomber/scout plane/night fighter of the European Theater if not the war. FR

The indescribable rush of emotion, adrenaline and pride when you see a spitfire in the flesh with it's engine roaring. A thing of beauty

This engine is one of the reason we are speaking English today instead of German and I'm so grateful for the forgotten worker bee's who built these monsters. I had to pay respect as you always hear about the hero's, But hardy about the worker who kept production going as London was getting the crap bombed out of it.

I was surprised you didn't mention the version of the Merlin that was adapted very successfully for use in tanks over the course of the war!

The aircraft you featured at 47 seconds is a Lancaster but is not powered by a merlin, but by 4 Bristol hercules engines.

The aircraft you showed as a Spitfire was a Hurricane. And... why does everyone forget the Mosquito... the best multi role combat aircraft of the war?

US Navy used marinized Packard Merlins in PT boats, also...

Performance had more to do with design than the RR engine. The P51 had the same engine as the Spitfire and was almost 100mph faster. the P47 was significantly faster than the twin Merlin engined Mosquito with only a single Pratt&Whitney engine. The F4U Corsair was also much faster than it's British counterparts with a single radial engine. The P38 lightning did not use RR engines either.

The P-51 was powered by the license-built Packard Merlin, which was a better engine than the Rolls Royce Merlin. Packard was better than Rolls Royce at engine mass production, so the Packards were more reliable. They were also less expensive to produce.

Stanley Hooker now there's a Biographics worth doing.

Please do a video on the colossus, the computer built by the British to crack codes in WW2.

It would have been useful to mention the contribution Packard made to detailed redesign on the engine to improve manufactuability. Also the carburettor, engine cut out, victory roll vs fuel injection by the axis powers.

Shows a Lancaster with radials. 0:49 and Spitfire shows Hurricane.

Do you know what sounds better than a Merlin engine? Four Merlin Engines!

So has Rolls Royce sued spacex yet for stealing the engine name?

Great as always. You could have touched upon Miss Shilling's Orifice too, as well as the Mosquito as had already been mentioned. That was a hugely significant aircraft, worthy of its own film 😊

"The Merlin XX incorporated a number of revisions based on early operational experience and the availability of 100 octane fuel from America." "It had been intended to utilise the evaporative cooling system but was replaced by the more reliable ethylene glycol liquid cooling system developed in the United States." "During the Battle of Britain it was discovered that the Merlin engine would cut out when pursing Me109s in a high speed bunt dive due to fuel starvation in the float controlled carburettor. Initial solutions involved inverting the aircraft into the dive and also the fitting a restrictor in the fuel supply line and a diaphragm known as Miss Shilling’s orifice, named after the female inventor (Beatrice Shilling) based at Farnborough at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. More permanent solutions involved moving the fuel outlet from the bottom of the carburettor to half way up and the use of fuel injection using a Stromberg (USA) pressure carburettor and finally an SU injection carburettor." The Spitfire Society Merlin page

Was the Hawker Hurricane the last wooden fighter plane used in combat? Quite fascinating from a mfg and logistics standpoint, the Hawker Hurricane subassemby manufacturing was apparently decentralized throughout 00s of wood craftsman workshops and didn't need much infrastructure for final assembly. Having a mfg & raw materials supply chain that was nearly impossible to bomb out of existence like a mfg plant was probably a bigger asset than the performance difference, what good is the most superior plane if you cant build anymore, or quickly repair the ones you have.

Erm, wasn't the Merlin derived from the K engine that Supermarine used in its world beating float planes. That's a rather important bit that you missed. The Schneider Trophy.

Investing with Daniel Jean is the best this a person can do for himself because he pays a lot more money than many other trading experts.

I have the pleasure of getting to hear 4 of these roar overhead most weekends during the summer, I live not to far from one of only 2 Lancasters left flying in the world.

I think the Bristol Beaufighter ll at 5:36 is fitted with radial engines? I think the Handley Page Halifax at 5:41 is fitted with radial engines?

I can just imagine Simon after he turns off the camera, being like and I have no clue what any of that mechanical stuff meant lol

This is for PistonAvatarguy and other Merlinphobes Tolerances- HAYNES Owners Workshop Manual R/R Merlin 1933- 50 Pages 28/ 29 Installation Rolls Royce I Aero Engine Drawing D.7115 73 measurements all measured to the thousandth of an inch. SO ENOUGH OF THE GARBAGE THAT MERLINS WERE SLOPPY.

Jay Leno has three Merlin engines. Two are mounted in cars and one is a demonstrator mounted on a frame that has a propeller. They're on RU-vid and quite spectacular to watch in action. Incredible engines! Here is the link for the demonstrator ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GYcKdK7hmEo.html

Merlin-powered Hurricanes and Spitfires can repel the Luftwaffe at their home turf, but the Merlin-powered Mustang can absolutely destroy the Luftwaffe flying as bomber escorts or hunting down large German aircraft formations.

1:35 - Chapter 1 - Rolls royce 2:35 - Chapter 2 - Build up to war 4:00 - Chapter 3 - Merlin 5:50 - Mid roll ads 7:05 - Chapter 4 - WWII 10:35 - Chapter 5 - Stateside 11:20 - Chapter 6 - The engine 14:00 - Chapter 7 - Victory - Chapter 8 - - Chapter 9 - - Chapter 10 -

So then why show Beaufighter and Halifax with Bristol sleeve valve RADIAL ...engines you know better......

The licensing to Packard was a huge step - their major contribution was the "standardization" of all the parts used - as a problem RR never quite ironed out early on was replicating the tight tolerances in mass production. In addition to the aviation usage covered, and the tank engine application others mentioned, a whole lot of Packard produced Merlins also saw service in PT Boats with the US Navy in the Pacific. They were truly ubiquitous for the entire Allied War effort. Air, Land, and at Sea. Or as Rolls Royce would put it - "Adequate"

NO... Rolls Royce Merlins powered the greatest HYDROPLANES!!!!!